Guests crossing from the BPL's historic McKim Building to the tent in Copley Square.

A
group of talented mentors who attend Boston Public Schools celebrated
with Mayor Menino and 450 guests at the Boston Public
Library Foundation's annual fundraising gala, "Party
on the Plaza"on Friday, June 6. The event took place
in a grand, warmly glowing tent with clear window ceiling panels
in Copley Square as well as in the opulent National Historic Landmark
McKim Building, often called “Boston's palace of the
people.” The Gala raised $1 million from generous donors
to support lifelong learning, available free to all at the Boston
Public Library (BPL).

Guests were thrilled to view rare and unique items from the BPL's
collections, which are some of the most important publicly owned items
in the world. Among the treasures on display were a volume
of Cicero's orations from the personal library of President
John Adams; a first edition of Copernicus' treatise On
the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres; a signed manuscript
of Lope de Vega's El Castigo sin vengaza; Paul Revere's
Autograph Manuscript Drawing of the Boston Massacre; the original
manuscript of Walt Whitman's To a Locomotive; and
a first edition of William Shakespeare's King Lear,
published 400 years ago in 1608.

Outgoing Boston Public Library president Bernie Margolis and his
wife Amanda Batey warmly greeted guests in the National Historic
Landmark McKim Building and in the tent. His accomplishments
at the BPL over the past ten years were recognized throughout the
evening. Ronald O'Hanley, chairman of the Boston Public
Library Foundation, and Sharyn Neble, vice chairman, thanked the
guests for their dedicated support for the advancement of learning
at America's first major public library. Jeffrey Rudman
of WilmerHale and chairman of the Boston Public Library Board of
Trustees, thanked the Foundation for its work on behalf of the BPL
and all who benefit from using its vast resources.

The Boston Public Library Foundation was founded in 1992 to enhance
the public visibility and to raise public and private funds in support
of the revitalization of the Boston Public Library and its 27 neighborhood
branches. The Board of Directors, composed of business and community
leaders, develops the Foundation's strategies and steers its
initiatives. Since 1992, the Boston Public Library Foundation has
raised more than $78 million.

BPL president Bernie Margolis and Emily Rooney.

Amy and Paul Kraft, BPL Foundation Board member.

Eric Birch and Sandra Moose, chairman and president BPL Foundation.

Kristina Hare Lyons and Marina Kalb.

Ron O'Hanley, chairman of the BPLF Board and Sharyn Neble, vice-chair of the Foundation.